This is a team the Giants should sweep! San Francisco sends Joe Martinez (3-1) to the mound against some guy for the D-Backs who IS NOT named Webb, Haren, or Davis, and that's good. But even against an under-manned and injury-riddled Diamondbacks squad, The Giants have relied upon 8th-inning, three-run home runs to pull out victories both Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Bengie Molina's pinch-hit three-run blast off Chad Qualls last night could be one of the highlights of the year to date. Watching Molina limp around the bases (quad strain) instantly reminded me of Kirk Gibson's game-winner off Eck in game one of the 1988 World Series at Dodger Stadium - I was waiting for the under-handed fist-pump as Bengie rounded second base. Of course the stakes weren't quite as high on a Tuesday night in August as they would be in October, but nonetheless; these games actually mean something. The Dodgers beat the Rockies today, which means a win tonight could close the gap in the wild card race to just two games heading into the weekend showdown.
Travis Ishikawa's three-runner Tuesday night was just what the team needed to bounce back and grab a win, and erase that awful taste from Monday night in Denver. Not only were the Giants short-handed themselves - playing without Freddy Sanchez (15-Day DL), Pablo Sandoval (strained calf), or Molina - they had to go up against Danny Haren, who is one of the top pitchers in the entire league. So it was crucial to get the offensive contributions from Ishikawa and Juan Uribe, who has gone deep in each of the first two games of the series (numbers 7 and 8 on the season). On the other side of the ledger: Velez, Garko, Rowand, and Winn really need to get things going period. Pablo and Bengie (and Sanchez) will all be back in the line-up soon, but it's not fair to rely on guys like Ryan Rohlinger; just called up from Fresno (0-for-3 Wednesday night), or Eli Whiteside (batting .228 after also taking an 0-for-3).
San Francisco only managed five hits Wednesday night as Doug Davis was cruising into the 8th-inning before things went terribly wrong. A two-out rally that started with a walk to Renteria, and a clutch base hit for Randy Winn spelled the end of the night for Davis, despite throwing only 98 pitches. Enter Chad Qualls, and enter Molina as a pinch-hitter for the number four hitter Ryan Garko. Maybe a surprise that Bochy would make such a move in that situation, and we would all certainly be second-guessing had Molina grounded-out weekly to short. As for Jonathan Sanchez, he pitched well enough to win (three runs on six hits and 9 k's over seven-innings), but got a really bad break on the catcher's interference call. against Whiteside in the 6th-inning. That play ultimately led to a bottom-of-the-order rally, plating two runs off Sanchez.
Nice bounce back for Miller and Medders out of the bull pen; recording the win and the save respectively. The Rockies come in Friday through Sunday. How about a rematch of last Sunday with Lincecum and Ubaldo Jimenez Friday night. Zito will go Saturday, and Matt Cain Sunday. Also, it's great to get some national exposure with this week's article on Lincecum and Cain in Sports Illustrated. Hopefully, they can both break out of their August funk.
